A series of Zoom lectures marking the centenary of the BBC, focusing in particular on Jewish contributions to its prolific output. This series is run in partnership with the Lyons Learning Project and Insiders/Outsiders.
Events begin at 8pm. You can register for the whole series or book separately for individual talks. Streaming links will be sent out shortly before each event. See below for full details.
JR has an ethical ticketing policy and is offering free tickets to the lunchtime lectures, but if you can afford it, please donate to support our work. We are proposing denominations of 18 – the numerical value of the Hebrew word 'chai', meaning 'life'.
Monday 7 November
The Émigré Contribution
In this introductory session, we chart the broad sweep of the BBC’s history, with special focus on the contribution of European Jewish émigrés during and after World War II. Guest speakers are David Hendy, historian and author of The BBC: A People’s History, plus Daniel Snowman, former senior producer on BBC Radio features and documentaries. Chaired by journalist David Herman.
Monday 14 November
A Conversation with Alan Yentob
As a former BBC creative director and the presenter of Imagine on BBC One, Alan Yentob has interviewed a wide variety of fascinating figures over nearly two decades. In this session, we turn the tables and speak to Yentob about his life, career and how his Jewish upbringing has influenced his work at the BBC.
Monday 21 November
Dramatic Jewish Voices
Jack Rosenthal brought authentic Jewish stories to British TV in pieces such as Bar Mitzvah Boy, for the Play for Today series; Martin Esslin, as head of radio drama at the BBC, nurtured a generation of British writing talent; and TV personality Jonathan Miller’s (pictured above) career spanned theatre, comedy and documentaries. In this session, their children – playwright Amy Rosenthal, musician Monica Esslin-Peard and writer William Miller – come together to discuss the impact of their fathers’ work.
Monday 28 November
Insiders/Outsiders
From music to fine art to architecture, for a century the BBC has been at the forefront of promoting arts and culture in the UK. Monica Bohm-Duchen, founding director of Insiders/Outsiders, explores the remarkable lives and careers of three creative Jewish émigrés, who played key roles in the early years of the BBC: musician Hans Keller, art and architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner and artist Milein Cosman. She’ll be joined in discussion by Dr Stephen Games, founder of Booklaunch and EnvelopeBooks and author of four books on Sir Nikolaus Pevsner; Alison Garnham, cultural historian in the social history of music in Britain in the mid-20th century and founder of the Hans Keller Archive at Cambridge University Library; and art historian Ines Schlenker, who specialises in National Socialist, degenerate and émigré art, and recently published books on Cosman and Chagall.
Monday 5 December
Jewish Voices in a Christian Country
The BBC is a national institution and, as such, its religious programming has a duty to reflect the Anglican majority – as witnessed in Songs of Praise’s 60-year Sunday morning slot on BBC One. But in an increasingly multicultural society, how is the BBC making space for Jewish leaders and ideas? Join Rabbis Pete Tobias and Jonathan Wittenberg, alongside religion and ethics radio producer Alex Strangwayes-Booth, to find out.
Monday 12 December
A Life in News with Mark Damazer
Having spent 30 years at the BBC, variously as Newsnight editor, head of political progammes, director of BBC News and controller of BBC Radio 4, Mark Damazer has been firmly at the heart of some of the biggest stories and controversies of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He’ll be reflecting on his time at the leading broadcaster and on the BBC’s news and political output: past, present and future.